New Director Named for Chapel Choirs

Lei “Ray” Yu has been named associate director of music ministry at Assumption College. Yu, currently the organist at St. Mary’s Parish in Southbridge, holds master’s degrees in choral-instrumental conducting and in organ performance. She is in a doctoral degree program in choral conducting at Boston University, where she also teaches. Yu has directed music programs at several churches in Kansas City and conducted a variety of choirs in Boston, Kansas City and Beijing. She will join the Assumption community in mid-August, where she will direct the student chapel choir, as well as the adult choir, which sings periodically at the Sunday 10:00 a.m. Mass and on special feast day in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit on campus. Also, Yu will teach stucdents to serve as cantors.

In addition, Assumption will move away from its current model of one cantor singing regularly at the 10:00 a.m. Sunday Mass. “Instead, we will have a number of alumni/ae and student cantors who will rotate this responsibility,“ said Nancy Small, director of campus ministry. “Rotating this responsibility gives greater emphasis to the important work of forming students as cantors to serve Assumption during their time here and (to serve) the larger (Catholic) Church once they graduate.”